In May 27th 2010, Uranus changed signs. After 7 years in dreamy Pisces, Uranus entered Aries where it will stay until 2019.

Although I am an Aries, I did not think the change of signs would affect me, since I have no planets in the early degrees of Aries or any other cardinal sign (cardinal signs tend to be action oriented signs, moving things ahead). I WAS WRONG. DEAD WRONG! I really did not see this one coming! Which shows you astrologers can make mistakes, or at the very minimum be naïve about astrology and its effect on our lives.

I forgot to factor in that Aries is my sun sign. I also did not take into consideration the fact that any planet entering 0 degrees of a cardinal sign (Aries, Cancer, Libra and Capricorn) will always bring change in their wake. Coupled with Uranus propensity to suddenness and the unexpected, Change with a capital “C” is going to happen no matter what. In hindsight in makes all sense to me.

The event in itself is not that important in the context of this post, even if what happened has a major financial impact on my life. If I had bothered to check an ephemeris and remember the events in my life around the times Uranus changed signs, I would have been aware that something unexpected was going to happen. Expect the unexpected — that kind of thing. Just before Uranus went into Aquarius in 1995, I had just quit my job, and had relocated to another town to help develop a community service project for low-income citizens. After two years of hard work, our non-profit had secured funding and we were ready to start. On the day Uranus changed signs, I got the news that my project had lost its funding. Suddenly, I found myself with in a new town with no job and no money. The story ended with me moving to the United States. In hindsight, had I not been jobless, I would not have migrated. And thus created a whole new kind of life for myself.

In 2003, when Uranus moved into Pisces, I met my former partner G. It has so far been one of the most intense and transformative relationships I’ve had in my life. In hindsight, he was a catalyst and changed my life in so many ways. I would not have become who I am today if it were not for my relationship with him.

This time, I was let go from my job of 14 years. I can only speculate what will happen. Maybe I will meet somebody who is going to open a whole new career path for me.

The last two times, I did not know about astrology. This time around, my excuse is that I was not paying attention. In hindsight, I should have. What I think is important is the fact that, in each of these transitions, it was in hindsight that I understood the manifestation of the entry of Uranus into a new sign. For me, Uranus in Aquarius was discovering what I wanted to do when I grew up. With Uranus in Pisces, the theme was bringing into the light the subconscious behaviors that were hurting my life. Uranus in Aries might be about affirming who I am in new, creative and unexpected ways.

Actually the notion of hindsight is going to be an important notion in the coming years while Uranus stays in Aries. Disclaimer needed here: The idea is not mine, but was suggested by astrologer Jack Fertig. I believe it is a notion worth reflecting on.

In Greek mythology, Uranus personifies the sky. Uranus is son and husband of Gaia, the Earth, with whom he had the Cyclopes (one-eyed giants), Titans (elder gods) and the Hecantoncheires (three one-hundred armed fifty-headed giants.) Uranus imprisoned Gaia’s youngest children in Tartarus, deep within Earth, where they caused pain to Gaia. She shaped a great flint-bladed sickle and asked her sons to castrate Uranus. Only Kronos, the youngest and most ambitious of the Titans, was willing. He ambushed his father and castrated him. After his castration, the Sky came no more to cover the Earth at night, but held to its place, and the marriage of heaven and earth was no more.

In astrology, Uranus is the ruler of Aquarius (Jan 20-Feb 18). The energies of Uranus are electric and crammed with change, preferably sudden. This planet is generally associated with forward-thinking, innovation, discovery, progress and the future. Uranus is also associated with originality, individuality and even geniality. Characteristics that contradict the myth itself.

In the Greek myth, Uranus had a unique role in the Greek cosmology. From him descended all the subsequent gods of the Greek pantheon. He was, in other words, a “father” figure, an authority. A rather paternalistic and static role, in my opinion, for a planet that is considered a rebel.

The myth tells us the story of a sky-god who was deposed and castrated by his son, Kronos. This supposed symbol of rebellion was an authority figure who was deposed and castrated by his own group. Frankly, Uranus doesn’t sound very Uranian.

Astrologer Richard Tarnas, in his book Prometheus, the Awakener, proposes that the myth of Prometheus is more compatible with the energy of the planet Uranus, than the traditional Greek myth about Uranus. Prometheus is known for outwitting and stealing fire from Zeus, and giving that fire—life, science, and culture—to humanity. In doing so, Prometheusrebelled against the Olympian Gods (the same ones who had defeated the Titans who, in turn, had previously deposed Uranus) to side with an even newer and younger group (humans.) Maybe Prometheus is more Uranian than Uranus? Richard Tarnas concludes that these and other characteristics of Prometheus fit the nature of Uranus more completely than the myth of Uranus.

Not so fast. Prometheus had a twin brother by the name of Epimetheus (literally meaning “hindsight” or “after the fact.”) In his dialogue “Protagoras,” Plato tells how Zeus told the twin brothers to go to Earth and create men and animals and give them each a gift. Prometheus set to work forming men in the image of the gods. Epimetheus worked on the animals. As Epimetheus created each animal, he game them each a gift. When Prometheus went to see what gift to give man, Epimetheus shamefacedly informed him that he had foolishly used all the gifts. Distressed, Prometheus decided he had to give man fire, even though gods were the only ones meant to have access to it. As the sun god rode out into the world the next morning Prometheus took some of the fire and brought it back to man. When Zeus discovered Prometheus’ deed he became furious since he had not wanted fire to be given to Man. Zeus set out to make a trap for Prometheus and exact his revenge on the Titan. Zeus gathered the gifts of the Gods and created Pandora, and sent her to Prometheus as a gift.

Prometheus with his foresight saw the curse that Pandora and her box carried. He refused the gift. Despite the warnings of his brother, Epimetheus happily received Pandora as his bride. Among her dowry — an unopened box of “gifts” and “treasures” from Olympus. When the box was opened, fear, terror, war, sickness, despair, depression and loneliness invaded the world. And Zeus had his revenge against Prometheus for having helped humankind master the art of fire, something previously restricted to the Gods themselves.

If we weave together the two stories, we have on one side Prometheus (forethought), who creatively planned ahead and gave mankind the means to develop creativity and connect with the Divine Spark by stealing Fire from Hephaestus and Athena. On the other side is Epimetheus (hindsight) who represents the blinder, more naïve side of Aquarian/Uranian energy that doesn’t recognize a villain until it’s too late.

If we accept that Prometheus is the rightful archetype for Uranus, then it stands to assume that the entry of Uranus in Aries would be a good thing. Here we have innovative energy entering the first sign of the zodiac. The urge to birth new movements and new ideas is now irresistible. Being graced with the ability to see the future coupled with the action-oriented energy of Aries should be a winning combination. Uranus is very much at home in Aries. The primal needs of Aries find pure and unfettered expression when Uranus makes its home there.

Uranus is a mental planet that brings focus to our ideas of what will make life better. In Aries, Uranus is emancipated from any rules or structures that inhibit its revolutionary ideas. In the sign of Aries, Uranus is inventive but also impulsive, and tends to shoot first and aim later. Uranus is known as the planet that can truly “shock and awe,” bringing events that surprise us and change our lives forever. And in Aries, its power to bring about sudden reversals is even more pronounced.

Uranus in Aries is filled with ideas for how to make change happen. However, Aries is not a sign known for its forethought and planning qualities. In that regards, Aries reacts more like Epimetheus. Aries is the sign of pure instinct and adventure; it tends to be always in motion, unimpeded by fear or caution, making it difficult to turn those great ideas into concrete reality.

Which side of Uranus in Aries will prevail: Prometheus or Epimetheus? To determine the answer for your life, check out the series of articles written by a wide array of astrologer son “Uranus in Aries and How to Claim a Self-Reliant Future.” The articles were published this past March in celebration of International Astrology Day. The links to the articles can be found on my blog in the section the 2012 Cardinal T-Square.

If Prometheus wins, then [be prepared to see some surprising developments in our world to change our lives for the better.

If Epimetheus wins, then at least we still have the last gift left in Pandora’s box: “Hope.”

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